Page 57 of Cryptic Curse

“No, he’s not,” Gina interjects.“We all saw.You were incredible.”

I warm at their praise.It’s strange to be on the receiving end of genuine admiration.Back home, the only kind of attention I received was… Well, not the good kind.

“Where are you from, Daniela?”Gina asks.

“Colombia.”

“Really?”She widens her eyes.“I don’t detect an accent at all.”

“I had an American au pair when I was young,” I explain.“She taught me English and I picked it up with her accent.I learned Spanish, of course, from my mother.”

Lavender leans in.“Do you speak any other languages?”

I nod.“French and German.”

“Wow,” Jordan says.“You’re a woman of many talents.”

His words jar me.

I’ve heard them before.

From another American.

* * *

Three Years Earlier…

“I hear you’re a woman of many talents,” the man says.

A woman?

Does he know I’m only fifteen?

It’s been four months since I started entertaining my father’s guests, but this is the first time an American man has come to our home.

I don’t know anything other than that his name is Derek Wolfe, and he’s apparently very important.

Veryimportant.

That’s what my father always says.

“I am?”I reply, attempting to sound confident.

He grins at me through his glass of whiskey—another thing my father insisted upon.If a guest wanted a drink, I was to serve it.

He rakes his gaze over me in a way that makes my skin crawl.“Oh, yes.Your father tells me you’re quite the asset.”

I swallow down the acid that rises in my throat at his predatory smile.I learned early on not to show my fear, to keep my face blank and uninviting.But it’s hard when Mr.Wolfe looks at me like he wants to devour me.

“I do what I can, Señor,” I say politely, ignoring the lecherous grin on his face.

At least this one is good-looking.Tall, with dark hair that’s graying at the temples.

Probably in his fifties.

That’s the usual age of the men I “entertain.”

What a fucking euphemism.

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